Life and politics from the Sunshine State's best city

David Jolly

While he’s not sure if he will attempt to resume his political career by running against Charlie Crist in Florida’s 13th Congressional District, former Republican congressman David Jolly says he will be part of another campaign in the future – a GOP effort to block Donald Trump from being renominated in 2020 as the party’s presidential nominee.

Former Florida Congressmen David Jolly and Patrick Murphy will tour college campuses this fall, where the onetime U.S. Senate rivals will try to explain why politics in Washington is so screwed up. “Why Gridlock Rules Washington and How We Can Solve the Crises” will feature a town-hall style format moderated by members of the media and academics, with a question-and-answer session to follow.

Nearly a year after filing, renowned St. Petersburg pastor Manuel Sykes is still fighting a bitter divorce battle with his wife of 10 years, complete with accusations of eviction and plots to “take a hit out on him” for insurance money, among other things.

Kathy Castor no longer represents a part of St. Petersburg in Congress, but she is following the mayoral race there. She says she doesn’t have a problem with the Florida Democratic Party attempting to tie former Mayor Rick Baker to Donald Trump. The Florida Democratic Party is running a 30-second ad on behalf of incumbent Rick Kriseman that attempts to connect Baker not only with Trump, but other Republicans like Mitt Romney and Rick Scott. Although the mayoral race is technically…

Vern Buchanan is seizing on heavy media coverage of a New York City police officer’s execution Wednesday, calling for the U.S. Senate to pass legislation making the murder or attempted murder of a police officer an “aggravating” factor in death penalty determinations. New York City Police Officer Miosotis Familia was sitting in the back of a marked van writing in her memo book when she was shot and killed with no warning by a gunman at around 12:30 a.m. on Wednesday.…

David Jolly offers some advice for his former GOP colleagues when called upon to comment on President Donald Trump‘s more egregious tweets: Just ignore him. “No more trips to the White House. No more flights on Air Force One. No more accepting his gratuitous offers of signing ceremonies, White House cocktails, or meetings with his children. No more asking the White House for permission, for policy advice, or for the President’s priorities,” the former Pinellas County congressman writes in an…

Losing an election can be liberating. At least it seems to be that way for David Jolly. The former Republican congressman from St. Petersburg always had an independent streak, but he has gone full-blown solo since losing his seat last November to Charlie Crist in CD 13. He takes every opportunity on Twitter to bash President Donald Trump, including a jab about the suspension of live on-camera press briefings in a recent missive. But that was small potatoes compared to what the…